She is known as the "Mother of Pride" for her work in coordinating a rally and then the Christopher Street Liberation Day March to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Howard also originated the idea of a week-long series of events around Pride Day which became the genesis of the annual LGBT Pride celebrations that are now held around the world every June.[4][5] Additionally, Howard along with fellow LGBT activists Stephen Donaldson and L. Craig Schoonmaker are credited with popularizing the word "Pride" to describe these festivities.[6]

Bisexual Veteran (US Army, Vietnam era), past president of the New England Gay, Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans; founding member and former National Vice President, Legislative Affairs of the Lesbian & Bisexual Veterans of America, now known as the American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER)[19]

Brenda Howard was chosen by Equality Forum as one of the 31 Icons for LGBT History Month.[21]The Trevor Project chose her as one of the role models for their Women's History Month project, "highlighting incredible woman-identified powerhouses who have changed the world for the better" and stating "At The Trevor Project we not only want to celebrate this month, we want to shine a light on the often unrecognized influence LGBTQ women have had, and continue to have, on our youth."[22]

The book Coming Out As Bisexual, by J.F. Fisher, published in 2014 by Lulu, (ISBN 978-1-304-93824-4) is dedicated to Brenda Howard.